Paint Me
by faithfullly
Summary: In which Rachel is kissed under the Eiffel Tower by a stranger. AU Finchel. Two-shot prompt by Ivy. Rated M for smut.
1. Paint Me

Rachel Berry knew that going on a vacation with her best friend and her boyfriend would somehow end up like this. Paris isn't exactly the city you visit with an uneven number of people, so now she's caught being their third wheel for the entire week. She knows that Tina and Mike try to be fair to her by not making out right in front of her, but Rachel notices the small suggestive touches they give each other every now and then, probably hoping that they'd be left alone for a while.

It's just their second day in Paris, and they've already seen a lot – mostly because Rachel wants to explore a lot instead of watching her friends feeling each other up. She usually walks ahead of them, trying to somehow block out their disgustingly sweet mumbles to each other. Whenever she turns around to talk to them, they're either sticking their tongues down each other's throats or gazing longingly into each other's eyes, and Rachel isn't really one to interrupt any of that, although it'd totally be something she could do.

They're in Paris, for crying out loud! This is the city of love. The city to which people come on their honeymoon. Here people have picnics by the Eiffel tower, kiss at small cafés after having a nice French coffee and some are probably stuck in their hotel rooms making love as if it was their last day. The city of love – and Rachel is alone.

People don't really like Rachel. Tina once told her that guys can't seem to keep up with everything that is Rachel (and after that she accused Rachel for being a stuck-up bitch in a drunken fit of anger). She thinks that's why her last boyfriend dumped her after getting her to bed with him. That's what she thinks about as she leans against the wall in her hotel room. (They had the decency to get two hotel rooms – one for Mike and one for Tina and Rachel, although now Rachel is sitting alone in one room, while Tina and Mike are in the other.) Rachel wonders if she'll ever have someone to take with her to Paris, someone to share a bed like this with, someone to kiss under the Eiffel tower. All that feels like some incredibly distant dream to her right now.

A particularly hard bump against the wall makes Rachel wince, and she decides that she can't be there anymore. She doesn't want to know what's going on in the room next to hers. A part of her even contemplates just getting on the next plane home, but at the same time she wants to take the opportunity to enjoy herself now that Tina is paying this trip for her, just to get some "mental support" since she's been worrying about her relationship with Mike lately. Rachel thinks she's getting enough mental – and physical – support from Mike, and that their relationship is perfectly healthy.

Rachel decides to take a walk on her own. Maybe it's just the lack of fresh air that's making her feel bad about everything right now. It's not that she regrets coming along on this trip, it's just that she feels so terribly lonely. As if she's trying to make herself feel worse, she suddenly ends up at the Eiffel Tower. It's already past noon, which means that most couples have just gotten out of a morning lovemaking session and have gone to the Eiffel Tower to kiss and just rub it all in Rachel's face. That's at least what it feels like when she sees all those couples.

She knows she should just leave Eiffel Tower and all those couples to themselves, but still she sits down on one of the empty benches, sighing when watching the different couples around her kissing each other's brains out. Actually, Rachel is kind of jealous. She wants to kiss someone under the Eiffel Tower too… but that's probably never going to happen to her.

Just as Rachel is about to get up from the bench and go back to the hotel, she is joined by someone. At first, she doesn't dare to look up, thinking it's probably someone who sat down on the bench to take a picture of their companion, but when she finally looks up, she's proven wrong.

It's a man sitting there, and he seems to be alone. He's obviously not on vacation, because he's wearing a suit. It's a messy suit, with quite a few stains here and there. His tie looks really sloppy, and his hands are stained with paint. There's a briefcase at his feet, but Rachel doesn't care about that when she hears his tired sigh. He's rubbing his eyes as if he's tired, and Rachel is curious to know why he's tired. However, she doesn't dare to talk to him. He might be French, and although Rachel does know some French, it's not at all enough to speak to a Frenchman, so she stays silent and looks down into her lap.

"Excusez-moi," he suddenly speaks up, in very bad French. "Vous avez l'heure?"

Rachel looks up at him, blinking when she sees him looking right at her. He has the most intense amber eyes she has ever seen, and it actually takes her a few seconds to realize that he's asking for the time. She fumbles with her hands as she digs out her phone from her pocket. "Twelve forty-five." she replies in English, and she can't help but smile at the way his eyes widen when she speaks English to him.

"Oh, thanks." he replies in English as well. "Is my bad French that obvious?"

She giggles at his words before putting away her phone again. "It's not that bad! I'm not one to talk, though!"

"I've never spoken French before I got here a couple of weeks ago, so it's been quite a challenge. Frenchmen seem to understand me, though." he says with a small shrug. "What about you? Do they understand you?"

Rachel shrugs as well. "I don't talk much. I'm here with my two friends, and they've done pretty much all of the talking." she says. "I had to get away from them for a while, though, so I have to do all the talking on my own."

"Really? Why?"

"Oh, you know Paris. The city of love and whatnot."

He chuckles and nods. "So your friends are dating, I guess?"

Rachel nods silently at his question, looking around them at the couples that are still busy kissing each other senseless or walking around hand in hand being cute, as if they're just teasing her for being alone. "And then I ended up here, watching all these people stick their tongues down each other's throats."

He looks around himself too, his lips curling into a smile when realizing that she's right. "Yeah, the Eiffel Tower is a place for kisses." he mumbles, almost absently, as if he's thinking about something. "You didn't bring anyone to kiss?"

"No." Rachel mumbles in response. "I'm stuck being the third wheel and watching all these people." She doesn't understand how he's able to chuckle at everything she says. Can't he see that she's miserable? There's no one kissing her, and she's all alone. Yet he laughs like that.

"Come on." he suddenly says, standing up from the bench and holding out his hand for her. She looks at it hesitantly, before looking up at him. "Come on." he repeats, winking at her. Rachel swallows hard before she takes his hand and lets him guide her away from the bench.

He pulls her along all the way to the Eiffel Tower, not stopping until they're right below it, with hundreds of people swarming around them like bees. "What is it?" Rachel asks in confusion, looking around herself at all the people.

"No one should come to Paris without being kissed under the Eiffel Tower." he says in a low voice. Just as Rachel opens her mouth to say something, his finger is tilting her chin up, and his lips crash onto hers.

She isn't quite ready for the kiss so she doesn't kiss him back, but she does feel all the passion he puts into it. His thumb is tracing her chin right below their lips, and he tastes of something fruity… like melon or something. It's a strange taste, but Rachel enjoys it. The kiss makes her so light-headed that she's not sure if she feels his tongue tracing her lower lip at one point, or if she's just imagining things.

He ends the kiss, faster than Rachel would've liked him to, but the smile on his face is a small consolation for not feeling his lips on hers anymore. She would've liked to kiss him back, but he seems to be in a hurry. "Here." he says, handing her a small paper slip. "I have to run, but you can call me later, okay?" With that, he turns around and disappears as quickly as he appeared.

Rachel just stands there staring at the slip of paper in her hand. It says "Finn Hudson, artist", and there's a phone number right below it. Now she understands why he looked so messy and why his hands were paint stained. He was probably on his way to show his art somewhere.

"Finn Hudson, artist."

Okay, so maybe she could've answered Tina's calls and text messages, but not even Tina freaking out when she gets back to the hotel can ruin her good mood. Rachel figured Tina would like to be alone with Mike for a while, and they've seemed to enjoy each other, except for the times Tina has called or texted Rachel.

"I sent you twelve text messages and called you seven times! You could've picked up or replied once!" Tina yells at Rachel, who's laid down on the bed with a long, content sigh. "Do you know how worried we - I was?!"

"I told you I was out for a walk." Rachel mumbles back at her.

"For five hours?!"

At that, Rachel just shrugs and turns over to lie on her stomach. She doesn't want Tina to know about how she met Finn and how he kissed her. A five hour walk is pretty much, she has to admit, but it's not like she could run back to the hotel and just scream because she is so happy. Tina would probably say something along the lines of "but it was just one kiss and you'll probably never ever meet him again", but Rachel has the paper slip well secured in her pocket.

"Mike and I are going out for dinner, are you coming?" Tina scoffs once she has calmed down a little.

"No." Rachel replies. "I think I'll just hang around here… I'll probably eat at the hotel restaurant or something."

"Good." Tina says, turning her back to Rachel. "If you leave, you better answer your phone."

"I will, I will."

Rachel sighs of relief when Tina and Mike finally leave. She would've gone with them, but she wants to stay back at the hotel so that she can call Finn. He might not even answer, but she wants to give it a try now that she's alone for a while. If she's lucky, he'll have time to talk.

After dialing the number on the paper slip, Rachel lifts the phone up to her ear. She's actually feeling quite nervous. They didn't talk very much when they met, and talking after a surprise kiss like that one feels pretty weird, Rachel has to admit. After five signals without Finn picking up, Rachel feels like giving up. He might be busy with something.

Then suddenly his voice is on the other end. "Hello?"

Rachel almost chokes before she can answer. "H-hello!" she squeaks. "It's Rachel Berry, the girl you… uh… kissed under the Eiffel Tower today."

She can almost hear him lighting up on the other end. "Oh, hey! It's you!" he says brightly. "So your name's Rachel? I'm sorry for not picking up immediately, I was listening to music and painting. I always tend to lose myself when I do that."

"It's okay." Rachel says, biting her lip as if to hide her smile. "I'm not disturbing you, am I? I just thought I'd call since my friends went out…"

"It's fine!" Finn replies. Rachel thinks she hears him chuckle that same way he did when she met him, but maybe it's just her imagination. "So you're all alone?"

"Yeah."

"Do you want to come over?"

Rachel almost drops her phone when hearing his words. He's asking her to come over. To his place. She gulps down her eagerness when she thinks of all the things that could go wrong. Finn Hudson doesn't have to be her Prince Charming who kisses her under the Eiffel Tower - he could be the Prince Player who kisses every single girl under the Eiffel Tower. Still, she can't refuse. "If you want me to." she replies shyly.

"Of course!" he says before giving her the address.

The cab ride to Finn's place feels like an eternity, despite that it's only a few blocks away from her hotel. She could've walked, but she had no idea where that street was, so the cab ride was kind of necessary anyway. Finn told her he lives on the top floor in some kind of penthouse, so Rachel knows which button to press when she enters the elevator in the building.

She looks around herself once she steps out of the elevator on the top floor. The hallway is bright and pretty much empty. There are nothing on the walls, and the only source of color is the bright red mat on the floor. Number nine is his door, and Rachel has to stop and take a deep breath before she knocks. Finn told her to knock hard so that he can hear her, because he was going to paint again.

Nothing happens, so Rachel knocks again before waiting. After the third knock, the door finally opens, and she's met by a man who resembles the one she met earlier that day, only that this man is only wearing underwear. Her eyes widen at the sight of his paint stained body, and he seems quite surprised to see her, as if he didn't even expected her to come over.

"Uh… hi." Rachel mumbles nervously, trying not to stare at the blue paint streaks over his toned chest.

"Hey." he says with a grin before he steps aside to let her in. "Come on in. I didn't expect you to get here this fast, and I thought I'd finish my painting, so I'm sorry for the mess."

"It's okay." Rachel says quietly, avoiding eye contact with him as she steps into the spacious apartment. He doesn't seem to have much furniture, except for a table, a tv and a bed. There are paintings and art supplies scattered out through the entire apartment, and judging by the paint everywhere, it looks like Finn has been using the entire apartment as his canvas. "My hotel is only a few blocks away from here, that's why I was here so fast." she explains, finally looking up at him and meeting his eyes.

Finn smiles and nods. "Well, I'm glad you could come." he mumbles as he brushes past her on his way into what looks like a combined living room and bedroom. "Is it okay if I give this a few finishing touches first?" He points to the unfinished on the easel in the corner of the room.

Rachel can't help but smile when she sees it. It's the Eiffel Tower with a clear blue sky in the background, and there's the silhouette of two people kissing under it. "It's really pretty." Rachel comments, blushing slightly when he turns to smile at her.

"Yeah, you inspired me." he says, before turning back to the painting.

They're both silent while Finn paints. Rachel figures he needs all his concentration when painting, and it's pretty interesting to watch him draw streak after streak of paint on the canvas. He mostly uses blue, black and white, and the way they blend by the actions of his hands is somehow intriguing. Not only the painting is interesting, but Rachel finds herself staring at his back muscles moving when he does a particularly long streak, and how his arm muscles tighten when he draws a small one.

Rachel is so hypnotized by his body that by the time he turns around to look at her, she doesn't even notice it until he speaks up. "What do you think?" he asks, snapping her out of her trance.

"It's… it's beautiful, Finn." she chokes out, nodding in approval.

"Good." Finn says with a nod before he wipes his hands on a rag. It's no use, because his hands are stained in blue, white and black anyway. His entire body is - especially his chest. Rachel finds herself staring at him again, while unconsciously biting her lip when her eyes see the small paint stains on his white underwear. Maybe she even wonders if there are paint stains under them.

Once again, Rachel is snapped out of her thoughts, but this time by Finn standing extremely close to her. She looks up at him and she wants to kiss him. This time she wants to be the one kissing him, since she didn't really react when he kissed her the first time. She gulps down her need and tries to keep her mind off the fact that there's a blue streak of paint at the corner of his mouth.

"Do you want anything?" Finn asks in a low, husky voice, as if he's trying to make her even more aroused than she already is. "Water? Juice? Wine?"

Rachel shakes her head slowly. "N-no, thank you." she whispers, standing up. It somehow doesn't make any difference if she's sitting down or standing up when facing him. He's so tall that she can barely reach up to his face when she stands on her tip toes. She looks him in the eyes as he nods slowly, and she's suddenly struck with an idea. "Come here." she whispers, reaching out to grab his hand.

She pulls him with her over to the painting, where she takes both his hands and looks at the painting for a little while. "I just think that one kiss under the Eiffel Tower isn't enough." Rachel whispers, when she moves her hands up to wrap around his neck. With that, she pulls his face down to hers, not wasting any time when pushing her lips onto his.

The kiss at the real Eiffel Tower wasn't at all like this. Although she can tell that Finn is pretty surprised, he soon catches on and kisses her back. Their lips move slowly, softly over each other, allowing them to let out small breaths into each other's mouths every now and then. Rachel smiles into the kiss when she runs her hand through the hair on the back of his head, feeling how even his hair is stained with paint. She thinks Finn notices this and wants her to stop teasing him about it when she suddenly feels his tongue on her lower lip, and now she's sure about it.

She opens her mouth to let him enter - wanting him to enter. As soon as his tongue slips past her lips to caress over hers, she returns the sentiment and even lets out a small moan against his lips. There's the same fruity taste on him, but she can feel it much clearer now that it's not only his lips, but also his tongue.

At some point of their kiss, Rachel feels Finn's tongue dominating over hers in the small war they're having, and he takes the opportunity in Rachel's moment of weakness to carefully push her up against the wall. She doesn't object at all, instead she moves her hand over to his bare back, lightly scraping her nails over his skin when Finn starts to slowly pull away from the kiss by nipping gently on her lower lip.

Although they've ended the kiss, Finn continues biting and nipping at Rachel's lip as if he's teasing her. Rachel sighs against him and just enjoys his small sentiments for a while, before she reaches out to take his hand. She guides his hand behind her back, to where the zipper of her dress is. He pulls away for a few seconds to look at her while he plays with the zipper between his fingers, and Rachel gives him a reassuring smirk before she kisses him on the lips again. With that, he pulls her zipper down.

Rachel lets Finn peel off her clothing until they're both in nothing but their underwear. He goes so slow, and his touch is so tender that Rachel feels so warm and fuzzy inside that she thinks she's about to melt right there in his arms. His lips are on her bare shoulder, and she can't help but moan out his name when he sinks his tongue into the little dimple by her collarbone. It seems like that is the last thing he needs to be convinced that he's allowed to do whatever he pleases with her.

Finn wraps his arms around her waist and carries her over to his bed, with her lips firmly on his all the time. When they fall down, with Rachel below him, they're still kissing each other passionately. They don't stop until Rachel feels his arousal poking her through the fabric of his boxers, and she has to pull away to look up at him. He smiles down at her and nudges her nose with his, as if to urge her to keep going. She smiles back at him before she gently pushes at his chest, making him sit up a little so that she can sit up too. When she reaches behind her back to remove her bra, Finn watches her with great interest, and she even notices how his tongue pokes out to wet his lips when she lets her bra fall off.

When Finn doesn't do anything else but watch her, Rachel gets a little worried. His eyes dart up to hers for a second before going back to look at her bare breasts. "Can I paint you sometime?" he whispers suddenly.

"Y-yes." Rachel replies.

Upon hearing her reply, Finn wraps his arms around her again, sinking down into the mattress with her below him as he kisses her lips needily again. Their bare chests stick to each other by the sweat of their bodies, making them both more and more aroused. Rachel wraps her legs around Finn's waist, requesting him to go even further. He pulls away from her face and looks at her again, breathing heavily while he brushes away some of her hair from her face.

Neither of them says a word as Finn's hands drift lower down on Rachel's body. Rachel only lets out a small whimper when his fingers slide inside the waistband of her panties, but she leans her head back onto the bed when he starts to pull them off. His gaze is as intense as before when her entire body is revealed to him. Normally, Rachel would've felt uncomfortable with someone staring at her like that, but Finn is an artist. He's looking at her with an artist's eyes, she knows that.

To somehow get Finn to move, Rachel leans up to his face. Since she can't reach much further, she starts placing wanton kisses all over his neck, taking time to suck on his skin as if to wake him up. While doing that, she lets her hands move over his chest, finally feeling his muscles tightening below her fingertips. When her fingers reach his bellybutton, Rachel tickles him a little, and he lets out a groan. She's not sure if it's because he doesn't want to be distracted when watching her body, or if it's because he enjoys her touch.

Finn leans down and kisses her directly on the lips when she slips her fingers inside the waistband of his boxers, and he sits up a little to allow her to pull them down further. She smiles into the kiss when she realizes that he does have paint stains on his hips below his boxers. Finn pulls away and grins at her when he feels her running her finger along one of the bigger stains that were hidden below his boxers.

"Sorry about that." he whispers quietly, but she just shakes her head and pulls him in for another kiss. Rachel doesn't need to tell him that she thinks it's actually pretty hot on him.

Now that they're both finally completely nude, their kisses start growing more urgent. Rachel's hands on Finn's hip and back are digging into his skin, asking him to come even closer to her. Finn eases himself a bit closer to her, just like she wants him to, and he can't hold back the small moan escaping into her mouth when his tip accidentally brushes past her folds. He's not quite entering her yet, but he knows they both want him to.

"Finn…" Rachel breathes silently, and Finn kisses away the moan escaping from her when he finally pushes himself past her folds. The feeling of Finn inside her is so overwhelming to Rachel, that she starts squirming below him almost immediately. It's been years since the last time Rachel was with someone, and Finn is probably three times bigger than her last partner. Her nails dig into his back as she moans out his name with every movement he does, and she knows it's worrying him.

When Finn is completely buried inside her, Rachel knows he's about to stop to let her get accustomed to his size, but she doesn't let him. She starts bucking her hips up against him while kissing his lips urgently. All she wants is to feel him. There's something about his paint stained body that just gets to her, and she wants to feel that - she wants to feel him - moving inside her now.

Rachel's desperation proves to be enough to make Finn move as well. He pulls out halfway before pushing back in, keeping his movements slow for now. His breathing is coming out in shaky sighs, while Rachel is whimpering and moaning occasionally below him, urging him to keep on going. Finn is just moving so gracefully for her, and she would enjoy it if she wasn't in such desperate need of him right now.

"Harder." she urges him in a heavy breath, and she doesn't even have to ask him twice before Finn starts speeding up his thrusts against her hips. Rachel lets out a moan of his name, which only makes him want to go harder. No words are needed for Rachel to know that he's actually craving her body just as much as she is craving his, and soon his breathing has turned to moans of her name as well.

As their moans raise in volume gradually, as does the level of pleasure shared between them. Every single time Finn thrusts inside her, Rachel feels him hitting just the right spot, sending her closer and closer to the edge. When his thrusts start growing erratic, almost uncontrolled, Rachel knows he's getting close to his edge as well. She wraps her legs around his waist, allowing him to reach even deeper inside her with the few finishing thrusts.

Rachel practically screams out his name, and her hips jerk forward violently when she feels herself falling over the edge. Finn follows her tightly, letting out something between a moan and a grunt when he spills inside her. They're both soaked in sweat, sinking back into the mattress of Finn's bed while breathing heavily.

They stay in that position, Finn buried deep inside her for a long time. When they're both about to drift off to sleep, there's suddenly a loud ringing noise waking them both up. Rachel squirms under Finn, and he rolls off of her and buries his face in the sheets. "It's my phone." she explains as she hurries over to her heap of clothes, pulling out her phone from her pocket. It's Tina, of course.

Reluctantly, Rachel picks up, mostly because she doesn't want the ringing to disturb Finn. "Hello?"

"Where are you?! You've been gone for two hours?! What are you doing, having dinner for two hours?!" Tina yells at her.

Rachel feels like just hanging up. She doesn't feel like talking to Tina at all. Not at a moment like this. "I… uh," Rachel mumbles, looking over at Finn who is peeking up at her from behind the sheets, "I've met someone." Finn lifts his head up and smiles at her when he hears her words.

"Met someone?!" Tina repeats, gasping into the phone.

"Yeah…" Rachel smiles. "I don't think I'll be coming home for the night."

Although Tina probably has a lot more to say, Rachel hangs up and puts her phone away before she returns to the bed and to Finn's side. She snuggles up beside him and kisses his bare chest when he wraps his arms around her. "Who was it?" he mumbles against her hair.

"My friend freaking out." Rachel replies simply, closing her eyes as she inhales the scent of paint and sweat on his chest.

"You better call her tomorrow and tell her what's going on."

"Why? You never said that you have to tell everyone about how you were kissed under the Eiffel Tower."

"You've got a point there."

He kisses the top of her head before they both drift off into a deep sleep together, with the painting of the Eiffel Tower and the two kissing silhouettes facing them and reminding them of why they ended up in each other's arms in no other city but the city of love.


	2. You Inspire Me

Rachel doesn't know for how long she sleeps that morning, but when she finally feels like opening her eyes the sun is shining right at her, warming up her body. She pulls the covers higher up her body and just snuggles into the pillow. That's when she realizes that the bed she's in isn't supposed to feel empty. Reluctantly, she opens her eyes, and finds herself all alone in the bed.

Suddenly she's aware of a small humming noise, and she turns her gaze to see the naked back of Finn painting something new. Rachel giggles a little as he sways his hips to the music in his headphones, and he only paints one long, red streak before he turns around, obviously aware of the fact that she's looking at him. He grins as he removes the headphones. "Good morning. I didn't know you were awake." he says cheerily.

"I just woke up." Rachel replies, sitting up in the bed. "It felt empty in this bed without you."

"Sorry about that." Finn smiles back at her. "I woke up a couple of hours ago, and I just had this huge burst of inspiration, so I had to get up and paint." She giggles at his enthusiasm, as well as the fact that his body has a few new streaks of paint on it now. He obviously notices that she's eyeing his body, and she sees the corners of his mouth curling into a grin. "I'm glad you don't think this is rude."

Rachel shakes her head slowly, grinning as well. "Quite the opposite."

He winks at her before putting down his palette and brush. "I take it you're a morning cuddler?" he says, removing his headphones and putting them aside as well. "I better get you those morning cuddles."

Before Rachel has time to say anything, Finn has joined her in bed and wrapped his arms around her body. He kisses her lips softly and sighs when they part. They both lay still, watching each other in the light of the morning sun. Rachel lets him run his fingers through her hair and smooth it behind her ear.

"You have really pretty eyes." she whispers all of a sudden, and he stops playing with her hair and looks at her instead, smiling. "I've never seen anyone with eyes in that shade of brown. It's really pretty."

Finn smiles back at her and looks her closely in the eyes as she runs her thumb over his cheek, as if to get a better look at his eyes. "You're really pretty." he whispers. "All of you is pretty."

Rachel blushes at his words, hiding her face in the crook of his neck. "You're just saying that."

"No." he replies, shaking his head slowly. "That's why I asked if I could paint you sometime."

She didn't even think it was possible to blush as much as she's blushing right now, when she thinks about how he looked at her the night before, wanting to paint her. "I'm not the model type, though." Rachel whispers shyly. "Did you know I hate going swimming because that means I'd have to show off my body in some tiny bathing suit?"

Finn smiles even wider at that, and she doesn't know if it's her imagination, but the way his fingers dance over her waist after that feels like some kind of encouragement for her. "The only thing you should worry about is all the horny guys who probably drool over your body." he whispers, lifting his hand up to cup her cheek and pull her face closer to his own. "I swear, I've never seen anyone as beautiful as you." With that, he leans in and kisses her lips soundly.

After trying to leave three times (and each time ending up naked in his bed again), Finn finally lets Rachel go back to her hotel, but he does make sure to kiss her hard enough for it to last the entire way back. She doesn't check her phone until she's halfway there, and she sees the fifteen missed phone calls from Tina, making her consider going back to Finn's. The last thing she wants is to experience Tina's rage after a good night (and morning) like this.

Rachel doesn't even have time to open the door to their hotel room before she gets to experience just that.

"Rachel Barbra Berry!"

She turns her head and looks at Tina with wide eyes. Her hair is messy, as if she hasn't been sleeping at all (which she probably hasn't) but Rachel is pretty sure Tina's eyes are red from anger, not from lack of sleep. "Where the hell have you been all night?! Do you know how worried I was after that call?! You and some strange, Frenchman in… God knows where! Do you know how angry Mike got last night when I didn't do anything else but worry about you?! You better have a good explanation for this, or else I will-"

"Tina-"

"Don't get started on me, Berry! I told you to answer my calls and texts, and you answered one call, telling me you were with someone! Someone who could as well have been a rapist or some other kind of molester!"

Rachel groans loudly before she puts both her hands on either of Tina's shoulders. Tina is obviously taken aback by her sudden action, and just before she opens her mouth to give Rachel another speak, Rachel puts her finger up. "Let me talk." she says sternly, frowning at her friend. When Tina finally steps back, shooting Rachel a mean scowl right back at her, Rachel sighs and relaxes. "Okay… so, I met this guy yesterday-"

"Yesterday!"

"Let me talk!"

Tina takes a deep breath and crosses her arms. That's probably the only thing that's preventing her from strangling Rachel in that moment, Rachel thinks.

"I was at the Eiffel Tower, and this guy sat down on a bench beside me. We talked for a little while, and he said that being kissed under the Eiffel Tower is some kind of tradition when you come to Paris. So, since I didn't have anyone… he kissed me." Rachel says, her voice growing more and more silent with every word. Tina doesn't seem very convinced, but Rachel still continues, "Last night when you two went out for dinner I went to his apartment and… yeah."

"You're out of your mind." Tina scoffs. "I'm going to tell Mike that we're going home tomorrow morning. We can't be here if some sex freak is going after my friend." She turns around to walk back into the other hotel room where Mike is waiting for her.

"No!" Rachel exclaims, reaching out to grab Tina's shoulder and stop her. "Finn is not a sex freak."

"Finn? That's not even a French name, I tell you he's definitely lying to you!"

"That's because he's not a Frenchman." Rachel sighs, rolling her eyes. "He's American too. He's a painter."

Tina wrinkles her nose and shakes her head. "Has 'shady' written all over it." she says shortly before turning her back to Rachel.

"Whatever. You two can go home if you're scared of sexual molesters, but I'm staying." Rachel scoffs, turning around to go back to her own hotel room.

"You're a grown woman. I never thought I'd have to tell you to stay away from suspicious men. I can't believe you let him get into your pants!"

Rachel turns to Tina with a hard scowl on her face. "You don't even know him."

"And you do?"

Neither of them can take any more after that, so Rachel just leaves and goes inside the hotel room, falling down on the bed as soon as she has closed the door behind her. She can't believe she just let Tina ruin her good mood by letting her say such terrible things about Finn. Tina didn't even know him!

Rachel decides to call Finn. That's the only kind of comfort she could get at a time like this. He doesn't answer, but she's determined to speak to him, so she tries several times. After the third call, Finn finally answers, sounding out of breath. "Hey, Rachel!"

"Hi, Finn…" Rachel mumbles, biting her fingernail nervously. She doesn't even know what to say. "I just wanted to hear your voice."

"Oh, yeah? Is everything okay?"

She can't believe Finn hears her sadness in her voice. It's as if he has known her forever. Even Tina has trouble recognizing Rachel's sadness sometimes, and all Finn needs is a phone call to know that something is wrong with her. "Not really." Rachel says truthfully.

"Your friends, I'm guessing?" Finn's voice says, sounding so warm and gentle that Rachel just wants to be back at his apartment, having his bare body pressed up to hers in a tight, comforting hug.

"Yeah. My friend thinks you're a rapist."

He chuckles. It's the same chuckle as yesterday. There is nothing creepy or scary about it, but it's warm and real. Rachel thinks that's what made her so sure with him from the beginning. His chuckle. That's the only thing she has to hear to understand that he is not in fact some kind of rapist liar or whatever Tina thinks he is. Rachel feels a bit better hearing his warm, familiar chuckle, and she almost wants to be there to feel his breath tickle her ear when he chuckles.

"What else did she say?" Finn asks, obviously smiling, judging by his cheery voice.

"She said we're leaving tomorrow morning, because she thinks I can't be in Paris if I have creepy guys following me."

"You think I'm creepy?"

"No." Rachel replies, giggling because he's still joking, although she was deadly serious about the fact that they might have to leave. "Quite the opposite."

"Good. I don't find you creepy either."

She can't help but laugh at that.

Since Tina doesn't bother to wake Rachel up the next morning, she figures Tina must've changed her mind about going straight home. They didn't talk at all for the rest of the night before, but Rachel stayed locked up in her room watching French TV when she wasn't talking to Finn. Rachel knew how much Finn probably ached to go back to his canvas and paint, so she tried to not hold him up so much every time she talked to him on the phone. Still, she had to admit that as soon as she had ended the call, she just wanted to call him up again.

After taking a long shower and getting dressed, Rachel goes over to Tina and Mike's room. She knocks the door, but there's no answer. They've probably gone out for breakfast without her. She shrugs to herself and decides to go out for breakfast on her own. It's not like she wanted to deal with Tina's cold attitude anyway.

Rachel ends up at a café right by the Eiffel Tower, giving her the greatest view ever from the table she manages to get to herself. She remains sitting there for a long time after finishing her breakfast, ordering fill-up after fill-up on her coffee. The sun is shining, so Rachel takes the opportunity to enjoy that as well, finally daring to smile genuinely because of something that isn't Finn.

When Rachel has decided that she's done drinking coffee after coffee, she decides to take a walk around the Eiffel Tower again. This time she feels a bit better, knowing that she has been kissed under it as well, and it was far greater than any of the people that are there kissing like there's no tomorrow right now.

Suddenly she sees him. He's sitting at the same bench where they met yesterday, looking troubled by something. The same suitcase is at his feet, and he's wearing the same, stained suit. Rachel smiles and slowly walks up to him. She sits down beside him without a word, and he doesn't even look up.

"Bonjour, Monsieur Hudson." Rachel says in French, catching his attention.

"Rachel!" Finn exclaims, obviously surprised. "I didn't see you!"

"I figured." Rachel giggles, scooting closer to him. "So, why are you sitting here again?"

Finn bites his lip and looks around himself absently. "I'm on my way to a museum… just like I was ysterday." he says, shrugging.

"You don't have a watch on you, huh?"

"No." he smiles a little.

Rachel pulls out her phone, giggling again. "It's ten twenty-five." she says, smiling at him.

He nods. "Thanks. At least I won't be late this time."

"Are your paintings in some museum?" Rachel asks, sneaking her arm around his so that she can hold his hand.

Finn nods again. "Yeah." he says. "It's a small museum right outside town, and I have to go there every day to check my exhibition for the day. It's not the Louvre or anything, but I guess it's okay. Not many people go to that museum because there are so many museums here to visit."

"I'd like to visit that museum."

He looks down at her and smiles, squeezing her hand in his own. "Maybe some other day. Things are not going so well out there right now."

"Why not?"

Finn shrugs and grimaces. "I'm supposed to be in Paris for another few weeks, but they're already thinking about replacing my exhibition with something 'more interesting', by someone 'more experienced'." he mumbles bitterly. "I don't know what to do anymore. If my paintings aren't interesting enough to be in a small museum like this, how will I ever make it to the big leagues?"

"Judging by what you painted yesterday, I don't think there's anything to worry about!" Rachel says excitedly, shaking his hand a little. "I'd pay tons to see art like that, and I bet that painting would put many of the paintings in the Louvre to shame!"

Although Rachel expects Finn to light up by her words, he only smiles weakly. "It's only that paintings like that don't happen very often." he mumbles. Rachel doesn't quite understand what he means, and he seems to notice this because he looks up at her and smiles the same smile again. "That painting was because of you. Do you really think I kiss every lonely girl under the Eiffel Tower? If you do, then you're wrong. I knew from the second I saw you that there's something about you. You intrigued me. I never ask people for the time, but since I wanted to get to know you… I did."

Rachel swallows hard, listening to Finn speaking. When he finishes, there's the same sad smile on his face. She smiles sadly as well before leaning in to slowly kiss his lips. "Did you know that I don't kiss just anyone?" she whispers quietly as their lips part. "But I didn't have a choice with you, and I'm glad."

Finn smiles a bit wider this time, pressing his lips against hers again. "You inspire me."

After talking things out with Tina (and convincing her that Finn isn't in fact a rapist) and apologizing, Rachel says her goodbyes to Tina and Mike before she runs the five blocks to Finn's apartment, intending to spend the night at his place again. This time he's not painting when she knocks the door, so he opens it almost immediately, pulling her in for a hard kiss before she even has time to say hi.

"Hi." she giggles as their lips disconnect.

"Hey." Finn says softly, smiling at her as he pulls the door close behind her.

Rachel immediately steps inside the apartment, not bothering to wait for him as she goes over to his easel to look at the painting he's working on. It's the same painting he started the day before, she recognizes the red paint on it. However, the big, black splatter in the middle of it is new. She tilts her head to the side, looking at it in confusion as Finn enters the room.

"I got mad."

She looks up at him, raising her eyebrow. "What?"

"Yeah… after you left. It didn't really work out the way I wanted to so I threw a bucket of black on it. Look." Finn explains, pointing to the splatter of black on the floor. The paint is obviously dry now, but Rachel knows it wasn't there earlier. She looks up at him with wide eyes, but he just shrugs. "It happens sometimes. Frustration is a big problem for me."

Rachel pouts and walks over to him, reaching her hands up to rest on either side of his face. She looks him closely in the eyes and runs her thumbs over his cheeks gently. "Do you want me to help you?" she whispers.

"How?" Finn asks, putting his own hand over Rachel's and smiling weakly at her.

"I told you you could paint me, didn't I?" Rachel says shyly, letting her hands fall down to her sides as she takes a few steps back. "If you get frustrated while doing that… I'll just help you get over that frustration, hm?"

She can literally see his face light up at her suggestion, and she doesn't object when he wraps his arms around her and kisses her deeply on the lips. Although she's literally craving the taste of him, she gently pushes at his chest, making him end the kiss. "No kissing your model." she says teasingly, taking a few steps back as she starts unbuttoning her shirt.

Finn doesn't know what to do with himself, so he ends up just staring at Rachel as she slowly peels off her clothing. She sends him an amused glance as she pulls her top over her head and zips down her skirt. It's not until Rachel is in just her underwear that Finn is reminded that he's going to paint her. He almost stumbles over as he hurries to get a clean canvas, a brush and his paint.

"Where do you want me?" Rachel asks shyly while pulling down the straps of her bra, and Finn has to gulp down a moan before he replies to that.

"The bed." he replies hoarsely.

Although Rachel feels incredibly awkward, she does as Finn asks her to and lies down on the bed once she's completely naked. He takes some time to stare at her again, before he walks over to her and tries to show her which position he wants her in, by gently running his hands over her skin, leaving a tingly feel to it afterwards.

Neither of them says much as Finn starts painting. Rachel watches him in silence, enjoying the sight of his focused eyes, going back and forth from her to the canvas in front of him. There's something different about the way he paints now. She's pretty sure it's because she's looking at him from another angle or because he's using a much smaller canvas, but it's something else.

His hand movements are small, but not quite as quick as they are when he paints a bigger picture. Finn is much more concentrated on the brush as he draws small curves with it. Rachel tries to think of what the painting looks like, and she's getting more and more curious with every single streak Finn paints.

"Can I see it?" she asks.

"What?" Finn says, looking her in the eyes as if he didn't hear her before. She smiles at him, because she has never met anyone who's so into their work that they can't even hear someone speak right in front of them.

"Can I see the painting?" Rachel repeats.

Finn shakes his head and smiles at her. "No, I want it to be a secret." he says, earning a pout from Rachel. "Come on, baby, there's not much left."

She giggles at the sudden nickname before she tries to stay as still as possible for him, wanting him to finish soon so that she can see the painting. Since he's seemed to be pretty patient with it so far, Rachel figures she doesn't need to help him get over some kind of frustration attack. He actually seems to be enjoying it, just like he was the morning before when she woke up to find him painting and humming along to a song. She likes seeing him like that.

Just as Rachel is about to fall asleep, Finn puts his brush down and sighs, looking proudly at the canvas in front of him. Rachel sits up in the bed and looks expectantly at him. "Let me see!" she says excitedly, but he shakes his head. "You promised I'd get to see it!"

"I want it to dry first." Finn says softly, taking the easel with the canvas and putting it aside, before he hurries over to Rachel on the bed. He wraps his arms around her as she tries to get up to see the painting. "You're so impatient! I'm surprised you even could stay still for that long!" Finn chuckles, kissing her all over her face.

Finally, Rachel gives up, and instead she's the one to pull him down into the bed, rolling around and tearing off his clothing as quickly as possible, while her lips leave hot kisses all over his skin.

Late at night, Rachel wakes up by the full moon shining in through the window. She's always had trouble sleeping with a full moon, but Finn seems untouched by it as she turns over to look at him. He's sleeping soundly, snoring a little with every breath. It brings a smile to her face, and she can't resist kissing his nose before gently wiggling out of his grip.

Never ever had Rachel thought that making love so many times during one night could be so great. Her body tingles as she sneaks out into the kitchen to get something to drink. She thinks of the many ways Finn touched her, and it's as if the tingling feeling on her skin somehow grows twenty temperatures higher. All she wants to do is go back to bed and wake him for another round.

Still, she doesn't. She stands in the doorway, watching him sleeping while she drinks her water slowly. Finn stirs in his sleep, letting out a disappointed groan as he obviously feels empty without her by his side. Rachel smiles at that, but she doesn't go back to bed quite yet.

Instead, Rachel starts walking around Finn's room, looking at all the unfinished paintings she never has had time to look at during daylight. She never noticed how many of them actually have huge paint blotches of some completely contrasting color. The only painting without a huge paint blotch is the one with the two silhouettes kissing under the Eiffel Tower. She smiles as she runs her fingers over the canvas of that one. It was the first painting she saw Finn paint.

As Rachel walks around the room, running her fingers over each painting, especially over the destroyed parts of them, she's suddenly reminded of the fact that Finn painted her earlier that night. She bites her lip before daring to go over to the easel to see the painting.

There she sees herself. In red paint on a white canvas, she's lying in the bed smiling at him. She's beautiful, pretty, sexy, even. All the things Rachel is not. She has to run her fingers over it, as if to make sure that it's really there, that it's really her on the painting.

That's when she notices it.

There's something really tiny in the left corner, and Rachel has to bend down to see it in the darkness. She has to squint to see what it is, and her breath hitches when she does. In tiny, red letters, there's a text that says, "You really do inspire me."

Rachel feels tears burning in her eyes as she looks at the tiny letters. She turns her head to look at the man, still sleeping soundly in the bed behind her. Maybe she didn't think she was a very good source of inspiration, just as much as she didn't believe that she was pretty, but for at least one night, Finn has made her believe that.

She wipes her eyes before she crawls back into bed with him. Immediately, Finn wraps his arms around her and sighs, revealing to her that he wasn't actually asleep. Rachel turns her head to him. "Finn?"

"Did you like it?" he asks.

"Y-yeah, I just…"

"I think it'll put the paintings in Louvre to shame."

Rachel smiles at that, before giving his nose a small peck.

"It will."


End file.
